Batman Unmasked
by KeeLoth
Summary: What happens when Batman's secret identity is revealed to the world?
1. Chapter 1

Terry turned the Bat-mobile around the edges of a skyscraper as he patrolled the unusually quiet city. "Is it really that hard to believe that Gotham can take one night off from crime?" he asked.

"Yes," Bruce simply, but firmly, replied, through the earpiece.

Terry sighed, but knew he was right; Gotham was never this quiet. In the three years, he had been doing this he hadn't seen one single night free of crime. "Fine, I'll do another sweep, but if I miss this date with Dana, she's gonna kill me," he commented, picking up speed as he came out of a turn.

He hadn't had much time for Dana lately and he was looking forward to their date. They were going to the reopening of the Dance Dance Dance Club that he and the Jokerz had destroyed a few months back, though his part was done in self-defense. Dana had been going on about how they remodeled it and how shway it was supposed to be. He was just looking forward to spending time with her and dreading the argument, cold shoulder, and glares he would get if he missed this date… not to mention that it would be the fourth missed date in a row.

Terry glanced up at the clock and inwardly sighed. He had forty-five minutes to finish patrol, convince Bruce to let him go, get changed, and meet Dana at the club… and that was only _if_ there were no explosions or burglar alarms. Because if there were, there would be no chance he would make their date and he better come up with one good way to make it up to her.

_Things would be so much easier if she just knew_, he thought, wishing he could tell her. _No, if someone found out she knew or worse, that she's my girlfriend, her life would be in danger. How can I even consider telling her after what happened to Miguel, kidnapped by Kobra just because he saw my face… and Matt taken by Stalker… it would put her in even more danger,_ he told himself. _But at least she'd know about the danger,_ a voice inside him countered.

Terry shook his head and turned his attention back to the patrol.

"It's too quiet," Bruce commented.

"You're probably the only person, in the entire city, that's complaining that about there _not_ being any crime," Terry replied.

"Something's not right," Bruce added, ignoring Terry's comment.

"Well, once you figure out what, let me know, but until then, I've got a date to keep," Terry reminded, turning the car around.

* * *

Terry raced toward the dance club and smiled when he spotted Dana just arriving. Terry quietly snuck up behind her, "boo," he said playfully.

Dana gasped and spun around, "Terry!" she replied, in obvious surprise. "You're actually here… and on time!" she commented, her joy and surprise clear as day.

"No wild Jokerz this time," he explained, with a kidding smile.

"Hmm… just make sure they don't make a surprise appearance," she warned, obviously referring to the fact that he had the knack for leaving in the middle of a date almost as often as being late or missing the date entirely.

Terry nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they headed to the entrance. _If you only knew why, _he thought sadly. He wanted to tell her, but didn't want to put her in any more danger.

As they entered, he quickly noticed the large crowds of people who were already here, the loud, but not blaring, music, and a giant lava lamp… just like they used to have, which was casting the entire building and it's occupants in alternating colors to the beat of the music. _Not that different,_ he thought, they even had the same, ignored, news wall, which constantly played the news channel.

"I thought they remodeled?" Terry commented, as they walked further into the room.

Dana rolled her eyes, "bigger bar, new _floating_ seats, new lights, and the lower tiers are supposed to be completely rebuilt," she pointed out.

Terry nodded, now noticing them and the fact that they were the same color and almost the same models as last time.

"Hey, you made it," Chelsea said to Terry, from where she was dancing, a few feet away.

Terry nodded. "Wouldn't miss it," he replied, with a smile.

"Good thing too or I would have had to find someone else to dance with," Dana said, with a teasing smile, as she slid out from Terry's arm and grabbed his hand, before she lead him onto the dance floor.

"Well, we couldn't have that now could we?" Terry replied, as they started swaying to the beats of the music.

As if on queue, his phone rang. _Just ignore it,_ he told himself, as Dana gave him an evil eye. _It could be important…_ he countered, as it rang again. _It's probably nothing, they can leave a message and I'll check it later… _he told himself, trying to ignore the third ring._ It could be important…_ he reminded himself, as it rang for the fourth time.

Dana sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just answer it, I'm gonna get a drink," she said, as she turned and walked away.

Terry sighed, _can't I have one uninterrupted date?_ he complained, pulling his phone out of his pocket and pressing the answer button. "What?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Are you watching the news?" Bruce asked in an urgent tone, ignoring Terry's annoyed greeting.

"No, I'm on a date, why would I be…" Terry reminded turning to the news wall, but trailed off when he saw what was playing. There, right there for all too see, on the entire length of the wall was him, in the batsuit with his mask off.

Terry's eyes widened in shook, "How?..."

"I don't know," Bruce replied.

"That's… how…?" Terry said, turning to Dana, who had stopped halfway to the bar and was staring at the screen.

Dana turned to him, her black eyes full of disbelieving shock.

"This footage, which was anonymously dropped off this morning, has been confirmed to be untampered," the newsman voice rang out through the entire building as the music quieted to a whisper. "People of Gotham City, we are looking at the true face of Batman; otherwise known as seventeen-year-old, high school student, Terrence McGinnis."

_How? __**How**__ did they get that footage? Who gave it to them? Who would even have it?_ Terry wondered in disbelief, he couldn't believe his own eyes or what he was hearing. _Everyone knows, __**everyone**__!_ His eyes widened, realizing that that meant the Jokerz, Ts, Ink, Kobra… every single person he had ever fought as Batman now knew who he was. "Bruce… everyone… the Jokerz… Ts…"

"I know," Bruce replied.

"Terry… is that true?" Chelsea asked, in an unsure voice.

"I…" Terry wasn't sure what to say. _Is there even a point in denying it? Or is there a way to disprove this?_ he wondered.

"Hey that's him! That's Batman!" a loud woman in the crowd yelled.

"Where?" someone responded.

"I see him too!" someone else exclaimed.

"Terry, get out of there!" Bruce instructed. "Don't confirm it until we know for sure there's no way of refuting this. I'm analyzing the recording now, if there's a way, I will find it."

"Ok," Terry replied, hanging up the phone, then sliding it back into his pocket.

"…Terry…?" Dana started to ask, her eyes full of uncertainty, as she walked back over to him.

"Dana…" he said, glancing around the room, as his phone rang. "I think we should get out of here," he said as he grabbed her hand, then headed for the door.

"Terry," She replied, as she started to pull away, clearly wanting answers.

Terry stopped and turned to her, "not here," he answered quietly. "I'll explain, but not here," he added, glancing around at the crowd again.

Dana nodded and followed him.

Just then a tall beefy man stepped out of the crowd and right in their path. "You sent my brother to jail," he said, glaring down at Terry.

Terry inwardly sighed, "Well, if _Batman_ sent him to jail, then he probably broke the law," he commented, as he tried walking past him, but the guy sidestepped in front of him.

"You think you're a smart-aleck? don't you," the guy replied with a hint of a threat in his voice.

"Hey, leave the guy alone! he's saved this city more times then you can count!" some guy from behind Terry pointed out.

"Yeah!" someone else agreed.

"Are you crazy? If it wasn't for that _vigilante_ we wouldn't have half the criminals we do in this city!" someone else countered.

"Batman's a menace!" someone added.

"He's a _hero!_" someone else shot back.

_This isn't good,_ Terry thought, knowing this could only lead to one thing: a fight. And if he didn't get out of here, Dana was going to get caught right in the middle of it. He looked around as the arguing around them grew in voices and volume.

There was clearly no way around this guy and the only exit was behind him. "If I were Batman, do you really think you'd be able to stop me? He's taken down, Blight, Ink, The Royal Flush Gang, _gangs_ of Jokerz… and you think you'd be able to stop him by yourself? Without any powers?" Terry asked, hoping he would back down and let him pass.

The guy narrowed his eyes before punching Terry in the chin so hard it knocked Terry right off his feet and sent him crashing to the hard floor. "That sounded like a threat," the guy hissed.

_Should have known that wouldn't work,_ Terry thought, as he wiped the blood off his chin with the back on his hand. Terry glanced over at Dana and gave her a reassuring wink, before he back flipped to his feet. He quickly charged at the guy, punched him in the face, kicked him in the stomach, causing him to hunch over slightly, Terry then, used both hands and hit him hard on the back, sending the guy to the floor, before he even had a chance to react to the first punch.

_I warned you,_ he thought, as he leaped over the guy, grabbed Dana's hand, then took off out the door, before anyone else got in the way.


	2. Chapter 2

After running a few blocks, Dana stopped and pulled her hand free. "Is it true? Are you Batman?" she asked in an expectant tone.

Terry glanced briefly around, before turning to her. "Not here," he replied.

"It's a simple question, with a yes or no answer," she reminded stubbornly. "I need answers, Terry."

Terry sighed, and glanced down the empty alley to his left. He grabbed her hand and led her a few feet into it.

"Are you Batman?" she asked, as his phone rang for the hundredth time.

"I…" _Don't confirm it,_ Bruce's words rang in his mind. "Oh… forget it," he commented, shaking his head. "Yes," he answered. "I'm Batman," he said quieter.

Dana slowly nodded, as everything clearly sunk in. "Well, that certainly explains a lot: the missed dates, showing up being late for a date, falling a sleep in class… and on dates, skipping classes, broken promises, and those bruises you think I don't notice," she ranted in a relieved yet annoyed tone. "Were you ever going to tell me?" she asked sounding more angry then annoyed or relieved.

"Um… well… this certainly isn't the way I wanted you to find out," he replied.

"_Were_ you going to tell me?" she asked, as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I… I wanted to, but I didn't want to put you in any danger," he answered.

"Danger?" she repeated raising an eyebrow at him. "This is Gotham, I've been kidnapped, attacked by who knows how many Jokerz, and your excuse for not telling me is my safety?" she asked her annoyance clear in her voice. "You're Batman; you could be killed and I wouldn't even know… you'd just disappear."

"Dana, I…" Terry started.

"No," She said sharply, cutting him off. "You're going out night after night after night, saving the city… risking your _life_. You could have been killed…_killed_ and I… and I would never have known," she said, her eyes starting to water.

"Dana, I'm ok," he said, trying to reassure her.

"Why didn't you tell me? did you not trust me?"

"No, I trust you. I didn't want to put you in danger," he repeated. "When Kobra found out that Miguel saw my face they kidnapped him; they were going to kill him. I couldn't risk that happening to you," he explained, caressing the side of her face with his right hand. "And now _everyone _knows… it's going to be the whole thing with the Joker all over again," he commented, turning away. _I won't let anything happen to you, or Mom or Matt or Wayne._

"Joker? What happened with the Joker?" she asked.

Terry turned to her and stared at her for a moment, his concern and fear for her safety showing clearly through his eyes. _She needs to know exactly what dangers are waiting for her,_ he thought. "He knew. He knew who I was and had a laser beam aimed at you, when you were in the hospital, one aimed at Mom and Matt, and one aimed at Mr. Wayne, just because I care about you. And now every single enemy I fought is going to be after me… and will probably try to use everyone I care about to get to me," he explained, as his phone rang again. "Which is why I can't be with you anymore," he realized sadness in his voice.

"What?" Dana asked in a disbelieving tone.

"I can't lead them to you. I won't let them use you to get to me," he said, turning to leave.

"_**McGinnis!**_" she said in the tone that always made him cringe. "Breaking up with me now won't change a thing. Everyone in our entire school knows we've been dating for years and it won't take long to lead you to me. So _don't_ break up with me to protect me," she said sternly.

Terry stopped. He felt helpless. _I can't be in three places at once. How can I protect everyone at the same time? I'm only one man against hundreds,_ he thought, turning and slamming his fist into the building next to him in frustration. _I can't let anything happen to them… not because of a decision __**I**__ made._

He felt Dana place a hand on his back.

He turned to her and smiled slightly, trying to reassure her. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her. "Everything will be alright," he said. _Wayne will find a way to disprove it… or they might not even go after them,_ he told himself, as his phone rang yet again.

"You should probably answer that," Dana said, as she pulled back.

_It could be Wayne with more information,_ he thought, as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the answer button. "Hello?"

"Terry!" Max replied. "I've been calling like a gazillion times! You've gotta see…"

"I know Max," Terry interrupted.

"Well, what are you gonna do? Has Dana seen it? Your mom or Matt? Did Mr. Wayne? Does he know how they got that footage?" Max asked, barely taking a breath between questions.

"He's looking into it, Dana knows, and I'm assuming that Mom and probably Matt saw it too," Terry answered.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know," Terry replied, as his phone beeped signifying that someone else was trying to call him. He pulled the phone away from his ear long enough to see who was calling. "Can I call you back? My mom's calling and I have a feeling she's going to want to talk."

"Ok, I'm going check the net, see how much is known," she said.

"Ok," Terry replied, before hitting the switch call button. "Mom?"

"Where have you been? I've been calling and calling, why weren't you answering?" his mom asked in a concerned yet angry tone.

"Sorry about that, I was in the middle of something," he answered, glancing at Dana, who for some reason looked irritated.

"And what exactly were you in the middle of that you couldn't answer your phone? I thought something might have happened to you!"

"I'm sorry Mom, I didn't mean to worry you. I'll be home as soon as I can to explain everything," he informed, before hanging up, not wanting to discuss it over the phone.

He slid the phone back into his pocket as Dana folded her arms across her chest. "What?" he asked, not having the slightest idea why she was upset.

"You told Max, but not me?" she asked in an annoyed tone. "What happened to 'for my safety'?"

"I didn't tell her, she figured it out," he quickly explained.

Dana thought for a moment. "How long has she known?" she asked.

Terry hesitated, hoping his answer wasn't going to blow up in his face. "A year," he replied.

"A _year?_" she repeated. "How did she… her Batman profiler, is that how she figured it out?"

"Um… yes and no…" Terry replied. "She switched it to a Joker profiler, remember?" he asked.

Dana nodded, "Yeah…" she replied, clearly trying to figure out what that had to do with it.

"Well… her profiler program fingered me as a Joker. She tried to confront me about it and I thought she was referring to me being Batman. Long story short, we fought off a bunch of Jokerz and she put two and two together," he explained.

Dana nodded, "This… is going to take some time to get used to," she commented.

"Dana… you can't tell anyone. If someone asks you, you have to deny it… at least until we figure out how to handle this," Terry said. "Wayne is trying to figure a way to disprove it. If we're lucky, this will all blow over and be forgotten."

"Wayne?" Dana repeated, with a confused look. "He's your boss," she seemed to realize.

Terry nodded, "We really shouldn't be talking about this here," he commented, glancing back at the street as a few people walked by, before turning back to her. It was one thing to talk about himself here, but people didn't know about Bruce Wayne yet and he didn't want to chance anyone over hearing anything. "We can talk more later?" he suggested.

Dana nodded, "Yeah… besides your mom is waiting," she reminded. "It will also give me a chance to get used to the idea of you being… Batman," she said quieter. "Trust me, I'm going to have a lot of questions for you later," she added.

Terry nodded, "I figured," he replied, with a smile "and I'll answer all of them."


	3. Chapter 3

Terry opened the front door to the apartment and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He immediately noticed his mom standing a few feet away with her arms folded across her chest and had annoyed look on her face.

"You're in trouble," Matt taunted, from the couch.

"Where have you been?" their mom asked, her foot tapping against the floor.

"I was out with Dana… I came back as soon as I could," he explained, stepping closer.

"Dana?..." she sighed, "Terry, I told you a week ago I needed you to watch Matt tonight," she said in an exasperated tone.

Terry frowned slightly, "You haven't seen the news… have you?" he asked uncertainly.

"The news? No, I've been waiting for you," she answered sounding a little less annoyed and a little confused. "Did something happen?" she asked, heading for the TV.

"I should probably explain before you…" he started, but she had already picked up the remote and hit the power button. "See that," he finished, as the footage of him in the batsuit, unmasked, filled the TV screen.

"Is that a prank or some costume?" she asked, turning back to Terry.

Terry shook his head, "no," he replied, before taking a beep breath, "I _am_ Batman."

Matt laughed, "Yeah right," he replied, doubt clear in his voice.

His mom stared at him, clearly trying to figure out if he was joking or if he was telling to truth.

"I'm not joking," he said, sliding his backpack off his shoulders. He hesitated for a moment. T_hey need to know… for their own sakes, _he thought, opening it and pulling out the mask.

"Whoa… shway costume," Matt commented, apparently still not believing.

"Matt, go to your room. I need to talk to your brother," their mom said, not taking her eyes off the mask.

"But…" Matt started to protest.

"_Matt,_" she said in a warning tone.

Matt sighed, "I always have to go just when it gets interesting," he mumbled, as he slid off the couch and grumbled his way to his room.

She stared at the mask a moment longer before tearing her eyes away and looking at Terry's face, clearly looking for answers to unspoken questions. "Sit," she instructed.

Terry walked over to the couch and sat down as he place his backpack and mask on the coffee table in front of him. "Mom, I…" he started, but she held her hand up signifying for him to wait.

The low volume of the TV quietly echoed in the background as he sat there, wondering what she was thinking. Terry inwardly sighed; he almost preferred the yelling to this waiting silence.

"Every time there was a news report or footage of Batman… that was you?" she finally asked, turning to him.

Terry nodded, "Yes," he replied.

"I knew… at least part of me did," she commented, as she sat down next to him, staring straight forward, toward the TV.

"What? How did you know?" Terry asked.

"I started to notice little things, especially after that whole Inside Peak incident. Part of me knew, I didn't want to admit it, but part of me knew; every time I saw footage of Batman in a fight, I'd cringe, not knowing exactly why," she replied turning to him. "There's no way I can get you to stop, is there?"

"Stop?" he repeated, his eyes widening slightly, he hadn't even thought that she might want him to stop.

Terry abruptly stood up, trying to find words to explain how he felt about being Batman. "I can't just stop," he replied, glancing down at the mask, before turning back to her. "Batman is a part of who I _am_ now. With or with out the suit, I am Batman and I can't just stop," he tried to explain.

"I know I can't stop you… you're going to be eighteen in less then two weeks… and even if I could… could I?" she wondered aloud. "I never thought I could be so afraid for your life and proud of you at the same time… and of course a little angry that you hid this from me."

"I can protect myself," he tried to reassure. _You're the one I'm worried about, you and Matt, and Dana… even Wayne, though he'd kill me if I told him._ Ever since that night with the Joker, he found himself worrying about them more often then he used to.

"Just explain to me why, why you put that suit on in the first place and why you continue to put it on night after night?" she asked, clearly trying to understand, her eyes searching his for answers.

"I…" he started, trying to figure out how to start, as he picked up the mask and stared into the white eyes. "Because of Dad… originally anyway," he answered, turning back to her.

"Your father?" she replied, with a slightly confused look.

"He wasn't killed by the Jokers, Mom…" he started.

"What?" she said, standing up. "The police…" she started.

"Were wrong," he cut in. "Dad found out that Mr. Powers was making and selling nerve gas. He had Dad killed, Mom. He made it look like the Jokerz did it. I found a disk with information about the nerve gas on it…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her anger and grief clear in her voice. "We could have taken the disk to the police."

"Would you have believed me? Besides, I tried to take it to the police, but Mr. Powers stopped me while I was on my way there," Terry explained.

His mom closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "How does this lead to you becoming Batman?" she asked, opening her eyes and staring directly at him.

"Well… after that, I stole the batsuit and went after Mr. Powers myself. I stopped the shipment, and destroyed the nerve gas," Terry answered. _And accidentally created Blight in the process, _he thought regretfully.

She slowly nodded, then frowned, "_Stole_ the batsuit?" she asked.

_I really gotta watch what I say…_ "Yes, I stole it. I took it from… the original Batman… I was going to give it back," he explained.

"How do you know the original Batman?" she asked, her surprise clear in her voice.

"I met him earlier that week," he answered.

"How?" she asked.

"It's complicated… And Mom? You can't tell anyone, we're working on a way to disprove that," he said pointing to the TV. "Hopefully this will all be forgotten by next week… so please don't tell anyone I'm Batman."

She nodded. "I won't."

"And that goes for you too Squirt," Terry commented, over his shoulder to Matt, who had been eavesdropping for at least half the conversation.

Terry walked around the couch and kneeled down in front of Matt. "If you're good, I might be able to convince… the original Batman… to let me give you a tour of the Batcave," he said.

Matt eyed him suspiciously, "Are you really Batman?" he asked.

Terry smiled. "Well, how else would I know how brave you were when Stalker had you in that cage?"

"I told you that story," Matt reminded, folding his arms across his chest. "If you were Batman, you'd have some batarangs along with that mask… and the real ones, not the plastic kind you can buy at the store."

"Batarangs, huh?" Terry replied, with an amused smile. "Ok, well, let's see what I have in the backpack," he suggested, as he straightened up and walked back over to the coffee table, with Matt close behind.

He put the mask down on the table and picked up his backpack, before flipping it upside down, causing the suit to slide out and onto the table next to the mask. Terry then put the backpack down on the floor and reached into one of the pockets of the belt. He pulled out a folded batarang and held it up for Matt to see, he then pressed the release button and the razor sharp red lined edges popped out.

Terry smiled as Matt's eyes widened. "Whoa," he commented.

"So you believe me now?" Terry asked.

Matt turned to him, "I guess," he reluctantly admitted.

"Good," Terry replied, retracting the edges of the batarang. "Now I need you to keep your mouth shut about this, can you do that for me?"

"Can I have the batarang?" he bargained, with a hopeful expression.

"Matt!" their mom objected.

Terry couldn't help but smile. "Maybe when you're a little older," he replied, tapping Matt on the head with the flat edge of the batarang, before putting it back in its place in the belt.

"Did you need to be somewhere?" he asked, turning to their mom, remembering that she had said something about needing him to watch Matt.

"Ter… you weren't here, I had to call in over an hour ago," she explained.

"Oh… sorry, I completely forgot about watching Matt," he said.

She shook her head. "It's ok, you've got a lot more on your plate then I realized… Between, school, your job, and being Batman, I don't know how you had anytime for anything else," she commented.

Terry smiled, unsure of what to say; if he told her that the job was just a cover, then that would reveal Wayne's involvement and soon after that the identity of the original Batman. "Yeah, being Batman doesn't exactly leave me with a lot of free time," he replied.

She nodded, "so why do you do it?"

Terry thought for a moment, "For you, for Dana, for Max… even for you," he said in a teasing voice, as he ruffled Matt's hair. "To help make this city a safe place again," he answered, turning back to their mom. A_nd to make up for the things I did in the past_, he silently added.

"I'd do it for all the shway toys you get," Matt commented.

Terry smiled, "Well, there's that too," he agreed.

* * *

Terry put his backpack, which had the suit and mask back in it, next to his bed, as he walked over to the bay window. He looked out at the city night, as he placed his hands on the windowsill. _I never thought this day would come… the day when my family, Dana, and the entire city knows that I'm Batman. I always thought that if it came out it would be because I told them, not because of some anonymous recording,_ he thought. _How would someone even get that recording?_ He wondered, he only took his mask off at home or in the batcave, he never took it off anywhere someone might see him. He sighed; _hopefully Wayne will be able to figure it out,_ he hoped as he looked out at the city.

It was an odd feeling to not hear any sirens at all for an entire night; it seemed too quiet, too calm out there. _The calm before the storm,_ something inside him said.

_I'm spending too much time with Wayne,_ he thought, shaking his head. _No crime is not a bad thing_, he reminded himself, as he walked over to his bed and plopped down. He took off his jacket and tossed it over to his dresser.

_What a long day,_ he thought, flopping back. He groaned, _and I've got school tomorrow… can't __**wait**__ to hear what Nelson and the others have to say… that should be fun,_ he thought sarcastically.

_They took it better then I thought they would, _he thought, staring up at the ceiling. _Mom was more understanding then I could have hoped for, Dana was hurt, but also understanding, and Matt… just seems to want to get his hands on the batgear. But I have a feeling that me being Batman and everything comes with that hasn't fully sunk in yet,_ he thought. He hadn't been able to bring himself to tell his mom, especially in front of Matt, of the dangers that might be waiting for them now.

He didn't want them to live in fear, but he didn't want them to be caught off guard if something happened either. _I'll have to say something in the morning, before school_, he reasoned, though he usually was up and out the door before either of them were awake. _I'll have to stay a little later then usual, maybe I can catch Mom before Matt wakes up,_ he hoped.


	4. Chapter 4

Terry sat down on the couch, before glancing at his watch. _Six o'clock, Mom should be getting up soon… just hope Matt doesn't wake up before her, _he hoped, not knowing when either of them usually got up. _Maybe I_ s_hould check in with Wayne,_ he thought, knowing that he'd be awake by now… if he had even gone to sleep in the first place. Terry pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial for Wayne.

He glanced down the hall to his left as the phone rang.

Bruce quickly picked up, "No leads on the recording yet," he said obviously anticipating Terry's question.

Terry inwardly sighed as he got up, running his hand through his hair; that wasn't the answer he had been hoping for. "How much has the press leaked?"

"Nothing new yet," Bruce paused, "if they found anything else out they must be waiting for the morning news to release it."

Terry nodded, _makes sense, more viewers. Just hope they haven't found anything else out… especially anything to do with Wayne,_ he thought. "Any ideas on how to disprove it?" he asked hopefully.

"Nothing concrete, just deny it and don't do anything to prove otherwise."

Just then Terry heard someone moving around in the kitchen; he presumed it was his mom making breakfast.

"And Terry?" Bruce started.

"Yeah?" Terry asked, turning his full attention back to Bruce.

"I talked to Barbara, she's going to have a couple men watching your mom and Matt; you might want to warn them that they're going to have a few shadows for a little while."

"Ok… and thanks," Terry replied, before hanging up. He knew a few officers wouldn't be able to stop the gangs of Jokerz, Ts, or the super powered villains that might be going after them, but at least they'd have more of a chance.

Terry slid his phone back into his pocket, heading for the kitchen. As he stepped in, he quickly spotted his mom, who was facing the other direction making coffee.

"Morning," Terry said.

His mom jumped slightly in surprise, before quickly turning around, clearly not expecting him to still be here. "Terry! I thought you left already… is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you… I didn't want to say anything in front of Matt, but…" Terry hesitated, unsure of how to word it. He didn't want to scare her, but he wanted her to be prepared in case something did happen.

"What?" she asked, as a concerned expression formed on her face, her eyes studying his, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

"The Commissioner is going to have a couple of officers watch you and Matt… just in case something happens," Terry explained, hoping that she'd understand without him having to say 'my enemies might go after you and Matt now'.

"What about you?" his mom asked.

"Me?" Terry asked in surprise.

"Yes, you're the one they're going to be after, _you're_ the one that needs protection," she insisted.

"I know how to fight them, I can protect myself… you don't need to worry about me," he tried to reassure.

"Terry… I just found out you're Batman… there is no possible way for me to_ not_ worry about you."

Terry inwardly sighed. "I'll be careful."

She nodded, though her concern for his safety was still clearly showing through her eyes.

* * *

As Terry walked from the parking lot to the front of the school, he noticed the multiple news vans parked along the street and the large mob crowding the front doors. _Great,_ Terry thought, with a sigh, as he reluctantly headed up the stairs and straight for the mob. He kept his head down as he squeezed in-between and around fellow students and reporters, trying, and hoping, to go unnoticed.

"I was as surprised as everyone else… although… Terry being Batman does explain why he's always missing his dates with Dana," he heard Chelsea comment to a reporter, as he walked past them.

"It does explain why Batman's always here whenever there's a problem," someone pointed out to a different reporter.

"Terry being Batman… makes sense… Terry and I go way back," Blade commented to yet another reporter, as Terry inched past her. "Right, Terry?" she asked, grabbing Terry's arm and pulling him over to her and right in front of the camera.

"Uh…" Terry stammered, unsure of what to say.

"Terry, what's it like to be Batman?" the male reporter asked, practically shoving the microphone in Terry's face.

"I… uh…" Terry started, looking straight at the camera. "I… wouldn't know… this is just some huge misunderstanding," he said, as everyone in the entire crowd turned their attention to him. "I don't know who gave you that footage, but it was just a costume for a Halloween party," he explained, as the other reporters started to make their way over to him. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not Batman," he added, with a shrug, as he turned and ducked trough the crowd aiming for the doors.

He could hear the loud mad rush of questions that followed him, as all the reporters shouted, each one trying to be heard over the other. But before any of the reporters could try and stop him, he shoved open one of the doors and stepped in, slamming the door shut behind him; as he did, the hall around him went dead silent, everyone turning their attention to him.

Terry uncomfortably shifted his backpack, before he continued down the hall. He could hear the murmured voices starting up around him; he didn't even have to hear what they were saying to know that they were talking about him.

"I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull McGinnis, but I'm on to you," Nelson informed, anger clearly coming through his voice, as he stormed over to Terry, from across the hall.

"What?" Terry replied in surprise.

"I don't know what you're up to, but I know you're not Batman," he paused. "There is no _**way **_you're Batman," he insisted, giving Terry an angry glare.

"I didn't have anything to do with it!… Do you think I _want_ people thinking I'm Batman?" Terry asked.

Nelson eyed him suspiciously. "You're up to something, McGinnis," he said, turning to leave. "You don't fool me," he added, before continuing down the hall.

"Sounds like you fooled some people better then others," Max commented, stepping next to him.

"Just wish they all had his views… it'd make my life a lot easier," Terry replied, watching as Nelson disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, but at least your mom, Matt, and Dana know now; at least there's an upside to all this… no more lies," Max quietly pointed out.

"Upside?" Terry repeated, pulling her aside and away from prying ears. "Max… they're… _you're_ _**all**_ in danger because of _me_."

"You?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "So you released that footage?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then don't blame yourself, Ter," she said. "There's nothing you or anyone could have done to prevent this… well… other than whoever actually released it… and those stupid news people who could have just thrown the recording out instead of broadcasting it to the world… but that's besides the point. This is _not_ your fault."

"They got footage of _me_, Max. If I had been more careful…" Terry started.

"Not _your __**fault**_," she repeated, each word echoed with a poke to the chest.

_There's no point in arguing about it… _Terry thought, pushing her hand aside._ The damage is already done._


	5. Chapter 5

Terry pushed open the classroom door as he stepped in, followed by Max. He immediately spotted Dana in her usual seat by the window, so he took his spot next to her, Max taking the seat on the other side of him.

"Hey," Dana greeted quietly, as she leaned closer to him. "Didn't see you in the hall earlier."

"Was running late… and the reporters didn't help," Terry explained.

Dana nodded, "Didn't take them long to figure out what school you went to," she commented.

Terry nodded, glancing around the room, watching as the other students took their seats frequently looking back at him. One of the girls staring at him got up and came over to him.

She hesitated. "I… just wanted to say thanks… I mean, I know my ex was a real jerk… but he still didn't deserve to die and that Payback kid was a nut. He would have killed him… along with who knows how many others if you hadn't stopped him… so thanks," she said.

"Um..." Terry started unsure of how to respond. He wasn't expecting someone to actually thank him.

"Settle down. Everyone, take your seats and settle down," Miss. Martell ordered, as she entered the room.

The girl gave Terry one last smile before turning and heading back to her seat. As the rest of the class quieted down, Miss. Martell took her spot at the desk.

As she started going over today's class work, something moving outside the window caught Terry's eye; he turned see what and his eyes widened in horror. _No… not now… not here._ he thought, spotting Jokerz… lots of Jokerz… heading straight for the back entrance. He quickly turned back to the full classroom, unsure of what to do. _I need to stop them!_ _But if I change into Batman, people are going to get even more suspicious,_ he realized. _Then I don't, I don't change into Batman… but that doesn't mean I still can't stop them,_ he thought.

_I need to get out of here, but how do I leave without it looking suspicious?_ He wondered, turning to Max, who gave him a questioning look.

Terry used his head to gesture toward the window.

Max turned to the window, her eyes widening, before quickly turning back to him. She nodded and gave him a quick smile, before screaming "Jokerz!" as she leaped up from her seat pointing to the window. Panic quickly erupted throughout the classroom, as rest the of the students screamed and rushed to the single door and only exit to the room.

_Not the way I would have done it, but it works…_ Terry thought, as they nearly trampled each other out the narrow doorway.

"Stay safe," he said to Dana and Max, as he stood up.

Dana grabbed his arm as he went to leave. Terry turned to her giving her a questioning look.

Dana stood up, "Be careful," she said, her concern for him clear as day, as she let go of his arm.

Terry nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, before heading out of the room. His classmates were rushing in the direction of the main entrance, but he had seen the Jokerz closer to the back, so he bolted down the hall in the opposite direction.

Screams echoed throughout the entire school as classroom doors swung open and panicked students and teachers spilled out into the hallways and started rushing to the exits.

"The Jokerz are heading this way, you're better off going to the other exits," Terry tried to warn, as he maneuvered his way through the now packed halls. Only a few seemed to hear him, as the rest continued to the back exit.

"Go to the other exits, the Jokerz are this way!" he, again, tried to warn as he managed to make his way near the front of the mob. But, by then they had already made it to the exit.

"Wait! The Jokerz are on the other side of the door!" Terry yelled, as they tried to open the too-crowded door.

"Jokerz?" someone near Terry repeated. "The Ts are heading for the main entrance, the Jokerz are here too?!" they asked, surprise and panic in their voice.

_Ts?!_ Terry thought, his eyes widening_. Two warring gangs here at the same time, with panicked students caught in the middle? This is not going to be good,_ he thought, as the crowd finally got the door open.

"Hello boys and girls, who is up for some laughs?" one of the Jokerz asked, as a mob of twenty or so came into view.

A few of the girls screamed as the majority of the group around Terry scrambled back. The few that stayed behind took amateur fighting stances, as they prepared to take on the Jokerz themselves.

"I'm sick and tiered of you Jokerz!" one of the guys commented as he punched one of the Jokerz in the face.

Terry couldn't help but smile as the Joker fell face first to the floor, though Terry had to quickly yank the guy back as the other Jokerz went to retaliate.

Charging at the mob of Jokerz, he punched the closest one in the face. As the few other students joined him, he quickly used his other hand to punch the Joker next to him. He then kicked the guy to his left, ducking as the one on his right swung a club at him. Terry sprang back up, punching the Joker on his right so hard it caused him to fall back into the guy behind him. Terry then elbowed the guy attempting to sneak up behind him, before twisting and punching a different Joker, trying to keep them on him and off the other students.

"Let go of me, you creep!" a female student yelled.

Terry glanced over to her; she was only a few feet away and had one of the larger Jokerz going after her. He quickly punched out the Joker in front of him then turned to the Joker bothering the girl. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size," Terry said, as he grabbed him by the back of his coat, yanking him backwards towards the mob of Jokerz by the doorway. _Really wish I had the suit's added strength right now,_ he thought as he charged at the group once again.

* * *

Max peered out of the classroom doorway and into the chaotic hallway. "Don't see any Jokerz yet," she commented to Dana.

"Good, they must still be outside," Dana replied.

Max nodded, "Terry must be keeping them at bay," she said, as she stepped out of the room and into the hallway. "Which means we do some recon," she said, as she started down the hall.

"Recon?" Dana repeated, as she followed her.

"Yep, while Terry keeps them busy we make sure there's no more of them coming from somewhere else," Max explained.

"You sound like you've done this before."

"Nothing quite like this… but I have helped Terry out a few times," she added quieter.

"Then shouldn't we help him? You saw how many Jokerz there were… shouldn't we…"

"Terry can handle himself, we just need to make sure there aren't anymore of them."

"You mean like them?!" Dana asked, pulling Max aside as the main doors came into view, along with the mob of Ts piling in, forcing the students, teachers, and reporters, down the hall.

"Ts?! What are they dong here?" Max said in surprise. "As if the Jokerz weren't enough!"

"How long do you think it will take the police to get here?" Dana asked.

"Not sure… they should be here soon… but probably not soon enough," she commented, as the Ts splintered into groups, heading down different halls, about six of them heading in their direction.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to slow them down," Dana said, turning to Max.

Max smiled, "Now you're getting it," she replied, before they both charged at the Ts.


	6. Chapter 6

Terry knocked out the last of the Jokerz. He looked around, there was only one other student still standing; the others, along with the Jokerz, were lying spread out on the floor unconscious.

"Guess… I'm lucky…that I go to school… with Batman," the guy commented, as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm not Batman," Terry replied, as he walked past him to check out the hallway.

"Not Batman?" the guy repeated with disbelief. "Then where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I took fighting lessons," Terry replied. "It's probably safe to leave through that door now," Terry reminded, as he stepped into the hallway.

The guy gave him a nervous laugh, "I think it's safest with you," he replied, quickly catching up to Terry as he headed back toward the front of the school.

"I'm heading to the Ts, if you want safety, I'd get out of here. If you want to help then I'd let the other students know where the safe exit is," Terry suggested.

"Fine, I'll tell the others about the exit… _Batman_," he replied, before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

Terry sighed, _so much for proving I'm __**not**__ Batman,_ he complained.

"Terry!" he heard Chelsea yell from behind him.

Terry stopped and turned to face her.

"You ok?" he asked, as she raced over to him.

She nodded, trying to catch her breath. "There are Jokerz… and Ts…"

"I know; I stopped the Jokerz from getting in."

Chelsea shook her head. "There are more of them, heading toward the cafeteria and I heard someone say that the Ts already had some of the younger students trapped in there."

Terry's eyes widened, "Matt," he realized, before taking off toward the cafeteria. He raced down the long halls, dodging other students left and right.

As the Jokerz came into view he didn't even slow down, he slammed into one of them, causing both of them to crash to the floor. Terry swept the feet out from under a different Joker, before backflipping to his feet.

Just then he heard sirens, signifying the police were close by.

"Sounds like your ride's almost here," Terry commented to the Jokerz, before quickly ducking as one of them swung at him.

Terry punched and kicked, swerved and dodged; the familiar dance was as natural as breathing to him. His trained rapid attacks left the unprepared Jokerz with little time to react. Within moments, the entire group of Jokerz were sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.

Terry instantly turned and ran over to the cafeteria doorway. He stopped, peering in to get an idea of how many Ts were in there. From where he was, he could make out six of them as well as a few students including Miguel. But, no matter how hard he looked he couldn't see Matt anywhere. _He's either not in there or just out of sight,_ Terry thought.

As he scanned the room, Miguel noticed him and smiled.

Terry sent a reassuring smile back, before turning his full attention back to the Ts.

As one of the Ts walked past the entranceway, Terry quietly snuck up behind him and whacked him on the back of the head; the, now unconscious, T's body hit the floor with a thud, catching everyone's attention.

"Get him!" presumably the leader of the group yelled, pointing to Terry, as they all came charging at him. Terry ducked and dodged the first few attacks, before swinging back at them. But before he had time to react, someone from behind him grabbed the upper part of his arms, locking them in place. Terry struggled to get free, but the Ts' grip was too tight.

The group leader smirked at Terry. "Not so tough without that suit of yours, are you?... Batman," he taunted.

"You leave my brother alone!" Matt yelled, as he popped up out of the crowd and charged at the leader, his sudden and unexpected tackle sending them both to the floor.

"Matt, _**no!**_" Terry warned, his eyes widening with fear. Terry struggled to break free, but the grip was still too tight. Panic surged through him as the leader kicked Matt off of him, sending Matt into one of the tables nearby with a thud. "Matt, _**run**_!" Terry yelled, as the leader got up and headed for his dazed little brother.

As the other Ts closed in on Terry, they blocked his view of Matt and the leader, Terry couldn't see what was happening. "Matt?!" Terry desperately called, but there was no answer. _I need to help him!_ Terry thought, before stomping on the foot of the guy behind, causing him to loosen his grip. Terry then spun around and grabbed him by the shirt and flung him at the others, sending him and two others crashing to the floor.

As Terry quickly punched out the remaining Ts, his only thoughts were of his brother; he wasn't even paying attention to the fight, he just knew he had to get to Matt. As the last T fell to the floor, he turned to Matt and the leader… but it was too late, Matt was already lying crumpled and motionless on the floor. _No…_ Terry thought in horror, staring at his little brother; his still form sending chills down Terry's spine.

Terry turned to the leader and charged at him, slamming him into the table behind him. "If you…. You better _pray_ that he's ok," Terry warned, holding him roughly by the shirt collar, as the police stormed in behind him.

"Put your hands up and back away from the table," one of them ordered.

Terry glared at the leader before letting him go and turning around.

"Put your hands up!" the officer insisted.

"No," Miguel said, stepping in-between Terry and the officer. "He saved us."

The officer glanced at Miguel then back to Terry, before lowering his gun. "You took out all of these guys… by yourself?" the officer asked, glancing around at the six unconscious Ts.

Terry ignored the officer's question and rushed over to Matt. He quickly knelt down beside him, unconsciously holding his breath as he checked for a pulse. Terry let out a sigh of relief when he found a weak, but steady pulse.

"Is he ok?" Miguel asked, stepping next to Terry.

Terry hesitated, looking down at Matt's unmoving form, "I don't know," he finally replied.

* * *

Max watched as the police handcuffed the Ts she and Dana took out. She smiled, _and Terry thinks we can't handle this kind of stuff, _she thought confidently, placing her hands on her hips as the officers ushered the dazed Ts out of the school. "You've got some nice moves," she commented, turning to Dana.

"Thanks… so do you," Dana replied, "Did you see their faces when we charged at them?" she asked, with a smile.

Max nodded, her smile widening, "I know, it's like they weren't expecting anyone to actually try and stop them… let alone two girls," she pointed out. "You know, we make a pretty good team."

Dana nodded.

"Can you imagine Terry's face if he saw us whipping their butts?" Max asked.

Dana's smile widened, "the way he talks, you'd think he's the only one that can take care of himself," she complained, her smile fading.

"I know!" Max agreed, "Other then that… suit," she said quieter, "he's no different than us," she pointed out.

"Other than more experience…" Dana reminded.

"Hmm," Max mumbled. _Well, how are we supposed to get any if he doesn't let us?_ She complained, folding her arms across her chest. _What's the big deal, if we take on a few baddies every once and a while? We can handle ourselves… besides, I took out Spellbinder… while being addicted to his reality thing, if __**that **__didn't prove I can handle myself, I don't know what will._

"Where is Terry anyway?" Dana asked, pulling Max out of her self-contained rant.

"I… don't know…" Max replied, realizing that he should be done fighting the Jokerz by now.

"Oh no…" Dana said, surprise and grief in her voice.

Max quickly followed her gaze, down the hall and to Terry, who was with a couple of paramedics as they wheeled Matt on a stretcher. Max's eyes widened. _What happened?_ she wondered.

Dana raced over to Terry, Max quickly following behind her.

"Is he ok? What happened?" Dana asked.

"I…" Terry trailed off, staring at his brother. "I don't know… they said they need to run some tests… I…" he replied, turning to Dana, his concern for Matt showing clearly through his eyes.

"He's gonna be ok," Dana reassured, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Terry smiled weakly back at her; but Max could tell that he was blaming himself over whatever had happened and that he wasn't going to feel any better until after he knew Matt was ok. So she knew all she and Dana could really do, was just be there for him.

* * *

Terry followed the paramedics out of the school and toward the group of ambulances by the street. The multitudes of police cars that were creating a perimeter around the school, barely registering; his mind was too preoccupied with guilt and fear for Matt to notice anything else. _I should have moved faster! I could have done __**something!**__ How could I let the guy sneak up on me?! If I hadn't been caught off guard, then Matt never would have charged at that T! I should've been paying more attention!_

"Terry!" his mother's voice jarred him out of his thoughts and back to the world around him.

Terry looked up to see her rushing out of the crowd and over to him. "Mom?" he said, surprised to see her here.

She wrapped her arms around him giving him a tight hug, "When I saw the news about the attack, I was so worried," she explained. "I'm so glad you're alright!... Where's Matt?" she asked, pulling back.

Terry turned to the paramedics who were now a few feet ahead of them. "He… tried to take on one of the Ts…" Terry started to explain, as she followed his gaze over to the paramedics. "I tried to stop him…" he trailed off, as she took off after them. _But I wasn't fast enough,_ he silently finished.

He felt Dana place a hand on his right shoulder. He turned to her, though her black eyes were full of concern; her silent smile was somehow comforting.

He gave her a small smile in return, before tuning to the paramedics. _Matt is going to be fine; they just need to run a few test to see what's wrong. He is going to be fine,_ he repeated, trying to convince himself of it, as he continued down to the street.

After only taking a few steps, his phone rang. _It's probably Wayne, checking in about the attack,_ he reasoned, pulling out his phone and hitting the answer button. "Hello?"

"Terry," Bruce greeted, in an urgent tone. "There's been an…"

"An attack, I know," Terry interrupted, as he reached the sidewalk by the ambulance.

"The attack was just a distraction," Bruce explained in the same urgent tone, as the paramedics lifted Matt's stretcher into the back of the ambulance.

"Distraction?" Terry repeated, turning his attention back to Bruce, though still keeping an eye on the paramedics.

"Yes, there's been a break-out," Bruce informed.

Terry briefly closed his eyes before asking, "Who?" as every possibility flashed through his mind.

"All of them," Bruce answered.

Terry's eyes widened in horror, "All of them?! How… didn't the police…."

"The police tried, but with most of the precinct at the school, they didn't stand a chance. They managed to stop a few, but the majority of the prisoners including Inque, Spellbinder, Shriek, and Mad Stan are now on the loose."


	7. Chapter 7

Though the prison was the last place Terry wanted to be, it was the first place he _had_ to be. He wanted to be with his mom and Matt, but he had to find out the situation here and catch the escapees before things got out of hand. Terry inwardly sighed and pushed his lingering thoughts of Matt aside as he looked down at the prison. There were scorch marks everywhere and the entrance gate had been blown open from the inside.

"How did the prisoners get their hands on the guns?" Terry asked. The scorch marks clearly indicated that there was a fire fight and that it wasn't just the guards trying to get the prisoners to stop.

"Probably surprised a few guards and grabbed them," Bruce answered through the com. "Or they had inside help."

"You said yourself that the attack at the school was a distraction for the jailbreak; they probably had inside help. Anyone who can get the Jokerz _and_ T's to work for them and actually _listen_, probably have enough creds to pay a few guards off too," Terry pointed out.

"Most likely, but we don't have time for speculation and guesses right now. You should start a grid patterned search of the city. The sooner the prisoners are caught, the better," Bruce reminded.

Terry nodded in agreement, "On it," he replied, as he turned the Bat-mobile around and started the patrol. "Wayne?" Terry started to ask.

"Yes?"

"Do you think you could call the hospital? See if they know anything about Matt?" Terry asked, his thoughts once again returning to his little brother.

"I called a few minutes ago, he was just admitted; the tests are being done as we speak. I will let you know as soon as I know more," Bruce answered.

Terry nodded, "Thanks," he replied. _Please let him be ok,_ he thought.

"Just stay focused on the mission. Getting distracted now, won't do you or Matt any good," Bruce reminded.

Terry knew he was right, but that didn't stop him from worrying. "I'll let you know when I find one of the escapees," Terry informed, trying to turn his attention back to the patrol, but his wandering mind did little to help.

_Focus on the patrol. Matt will be fine,_ he told himself, looking down at the city below.

It wasn't long before Terry spotted three prison garbed men trying, unsuccessfully, to hide in the shadows of an alley a few miles away from the prison. "Bingo," Terry said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the com.

"Found someone?" Bruce asked.

"Three. Unarmed. Won't take long," Terry concluded, stopping the Bat-mobile above the alley they were in.

"Terry," Bruce started in a warning tone. "They may be unarmed, but they will be desperate and desperate can be more dangerous then any weapon. Do not underestimate them."

Terry nodded, though he knew Bruce couldn't see him, as he opened the floor exit of the Bat-mobile.

One of the escapees looked up, his eyes widening in surprise, "Batman!" he yelled to the other two, as he pointed to him.

"Relax, didn't you see the news? he's just some punk kid in a costume," the one on Terry's left reminded, as Terry slid out of the Bat-mobile and landed in the alley a few feet away from them.

"Yeah; Batman more like Batboy," the one on Terry's right added in a mocking tone. "There's no reason to be afraid of this kid, we can take him in a heartbeat."

"One: I'm not that McGinnis kid," Terry started, punching the one on the left out cold. "Two: you have every reason to be afraid of me," he added, ducking as the one on the right swung at him, before quickly retaliating with a punch. "Three: do _**not**_ call me Batboy," he informed, knocking him out as well.

Terry turned to the last escapee, who slowly backed away from him, before bolting in the opposite direction. Terry quickly ejected a bola batarang into his ready hand and threw it at him. The bola wrapped around the escapee's feet, causing him to fall to the rough concrete ground.

Terry walked past the two unconscious escapees and over to the one tied up. He bent down and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him with him as he straightened up. "Who helped you? Who was behind the attack and the jailbreak?!" Terry demanded, giving him his best Wayne impression as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"How am I supposed to know? I didn't have anything to do with it!" the escapee replied.

Terry glared at him a moment longer, before slamming him into the building behind him, allowing the suit sensors in his glove to get a read on his pulse. "I'm only going to ask you one more time, who was behind it?!"

"I don't know! Honest! I had nothing to do with it! Who'd turn down a chance at getting out of jail early?"

His pulse indicated that he was telling the truth. Terry inwardly sighed, "Next time, just stay in your cell," he instructed, releasing his grip on the escapee's shirt and quickly handcuffing him to a nearby dumpster.

Terry walked back under the Bat-mobile and flew up and through the, still open, exit. As he sat down the floor automatically closed. "Might want to tell the Comish where to pick up three of her escapees," he commented, as he pushed the accelerators forward to begin the patrol again.

"Already called, a patrol car is on its way," Bruce replied.

_Three down a million to go._ Terry sighed, the only place he wanted to be right now was at the hospital, to be there for his mom, to be there when the test results came back, and be there when Matt woke up. But he knew being there wouldn't change anything, it wouldn't make the test results come in quicker and it wouldn't make Matt wake up sooner. And he _knew_ Batman was needed here, to help round up the escapees, to make sure no one else got hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

Dana looked out the window in Max's living room. Part of her looking and hoping to spot Terry… Batman, though she knew he was near the prison and that was clear across town. _Terry, be careful,_ she thought, looking out at the city.

"You do know the prison is on the other side of town, right?" Max asked, looking up from her laptop.

"Yeah," Dana replied, briefly turning to her.

"Then why do you keep looking for him out the window?" Max asked.

"I don't know," Dana replied with a shrug. "Makes me feel like I'm doing something, I guess," she answered. "How do you do it? just sit here, not knowing what's happening or whether he's ok?" she asked, turning to Max.

"He's fine, Dana. He always is," she replied. "He's gone up against worse before… besides he probably put most of them away to begin with."

"That's not very reassuring…" Dana pointed out. "If he's the reason they were in prison, who do you think they're going to go after first?"

"I… just meant that he can take care of himself," Max replied.

"Yeah, I know that… I just…" Dana started.

"Don't like not knowing?" Max finished.

Dana nodded, turning back to the window. _Is this how it's going to be every time he goes out as Batman?_ she wondered. _Am I just going to be left wondering how he is all the time? Not knowing when or __**if**__ he's going to come back? _Dana asked herself.

She inwardly sighed; _I thought I had adjusted to the idea of him being Batman… I mean it made sense, it explained everything… the missed dates, the unexplained bruises, the odd excuses before he'd disappear for hours... But the idea of it and the reality of it are two different things,_ she realized. _How could I have missed it? How could I have not put the pieces together? For three __**years**__ he's been Batman, how did I not see it?_ she wondered.

"Hmm…" Max mumbled, drawing Dana out of her thoughts.

"What?" Dana asked, turning her attention to Max, who was looking at something on her laptop.

"I'm looking at the footage… you know the one of Terry unmasked in the Batsuit, and there's just something familiar about it… I just can't put my finger on it," Max answered.

"Familiar?" Dana repeated, getting up and walking over to the couch, before sitting down next to her so she could see the recording as well.

The recording was only a few seconds long and didn't show much other then Terry. The room around him was dark and grey and had nothing identifiable in what little of the room she could make out.

"Well, unless you've seen some other recording of Terry unmasked, I don't know…" Dana started.

"That's it!" Max exclaimed. "Dana, you're a genius! That's where they got the recording!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"About a year ago, we all saw it. _Everyone_ saw it! That has to be where they got the recording! They had to have gotten it from _him!_" Max explained, as she started typing something into the search bar.

"_Who?_" Dana asked, still not sure who she was talking about.

"Peek; remember he got footage of Batman unmasked and was going to broadcast it to the world? It has to be his footage. Someone else must have gotten their hands on it!" Max answered. "Ah, there!" she said, as she clicked open a video.

Dana watched as the short video played, though Terry's face was unrecognizably blurred, the camera angle was the same, Terry's position was the same, and he was in the same dark unidentifiable room. Dana's eyes widened as she realized this had to be the same video. "So Peek finally worked up the nerve to release it," she commented.

Max shook her head, "No, but whoever found it did."

"What makes you so sure it wasn't Peek?" Dana asked, turning to her.

"Because, he was using experimental tech to be able to walk through walls. He lost control of it and sank to the center of the earth… or at least that's what Terry told me," Max explained.

"Sank to the center of the earth?" Dana repeated. "Well, I guess that explains why his show suddenly went off the air," she commented.

Max nodded.

"But who would have gotten their hands on it? and why would they wait so long to release it?" Dana wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Max replied.

"You'd think Terry would have taken it or made sure no one would be able to get it," Dana commented. "Did Terry say what happened to it?"

"He said Wayne had it."

"Any idea what he did with it?" Dana asked.

Max shook her head. "No… and I doubt he'd be real generous with the information either."

"Do you think he knows the recording's Peek's?" Dana asked.

Max shrugged, "With him you never know. Though, if he knew, you'd think he would have told Terry; and Terry would have told us… At least he usually tells me that kind of thing," she pointed out.

"Then shouldn't we tell him? I mean we can't get a hold of Terry right now and they should probably know, so they can do some digging and find out who is behind it."

"Actually… we can talk to Mr. Wayne and Terry at the same time," Max informed.

Dana gave her a questioning look, "How? Terry's out as Batman, I don't think he's going to answer his phone."

"The com channel they use to communicate so Mr. Wayne can know what's going on and help Terry," she answered.

"And you're just mentioning this _now_?" Dana asked_. I've been sitting here wondering how Terry is and we could have called him?!_

"Mr. Wayne doesn't like when I use it and I doubt we're going to get more then a minute on it before he cuts us off," Max replied. "Just let me switch it over to speaker and… there we go," she said, hitting the call button.

It only rang once before Bruce answered. "Max, what have I told you about using this number?" he asked, in an annoyed tone.

"Max?" Terry greeted in surprise, his voice sending a wave of relief through Dana.

"Terry!" she said, unable to withhold her joy for hearing his voice. Though in her mind she knew he was ok, it was just nice to know for sure.

"Dana?" Terry replied is surprise.

Bruce groaned, "Max give you this number?" he asked, in the same annoyed tone.

"No… not yet," Max answered.

Bruce groaned again. "Is there a reason you two are calling?" he asked.

"Is everything ok?" Terry asked, his concern clear in his voice.

"Yeah, we're fine," Dana quickly answered.

"Then if there's nothing important…" Bruce started, clearly trying to get them off the com as soon as possible.

"Wait!" Max said, knowing that he was most likely about it cut them off the channel. "It's about the recording," she started. "It's Peek's, we compared them, they're the same recording."

"What?" Terry replied.

"That's impossible," Bruce said, his certainty clear in his voice.

"Compare the two videos. You'll see that they're the same," Dana urged.

"Peek gave us the only unedited copy; it can't be the same," Terry pointed out.

"You really think that sleazy reporter gave you his _**only**_ copy?" Max asked.

The com went silent for a few moments, before Bruce spoke up. "If that's all? We have work to do."

"If you cut us off this channel, we're just going to drive down there!" Max threatened.

"You know where the Bat-cave is?" Dana quietly asked, turning to Max.

Max shrugged, turning to face her. "No, but he doesn't know that," she replied, before turning back to the laptop.


	9. Chapter 9

"So then what did you do?" Dana asked.

"Well, first I had to…" Terry stared.

_How he can get anything done with all this chatter is beyond me,_ Bruce thought, rubbing his temples. The nearly constant irrelevant chatter was not only distracting but irritating as well.

Though he knew Max and Dana had no idea where the Bat-cave was, he had bargained a half hour on the com just so they wouldn't keep calling, a half hour that seemed to last a life time.

Bruce sighed, _ten minutes,_ he thought glancing at the clock. He turned back to the two side-by-side videos, Ian Peek's and the new one that was broadcasted. _How could I have missed it?_ he wondered. _How could someone else have gotten their hands on his recording?_

_I combed through his office before leaving, there was no other copy. He must have sent it to someone, someone he trusted. Someone…_

"He did _what?!_" Dana asked, her surprised voice jarring Bruce out of his train of thought.

"I know, I couldn't believe it either," Terry replied, amusement clear in his voice.

Bruce sighed, a scowl forming on his face. "Shouldn't you be patrolling, McGinnis?" he reminded.

"I am. I'll let you know when I spot… never mind, found one," Terry replied.

"Where?" Max asked.

"What's he doing?" Dana asked.

Bruce groaned. _Aren't they ever quiet?_ he wondered.

* * *

As the morning vanished into early evening, the patrol slowly took Terry further and further away from the prison. In the horizon he could see Gotham General, the Hospital Matt had been taken to. It was a few miles away, though it would take less then five minutes to get there.

_Five minutes there, five… ten… minutes tops to check on Mom and Matt, then back on patrol in twenty minutes or less,_ he reasoned, wanting to check on them and hating leaving his mom to deal with everything on her own. _Not much can happen in twenty minutes… right?_ he wondered, hopefully.

Terry sighed; _Wayne will never go for it. Besides he said he would tell me when he found out anything else. There probably hasn't been any news yet. Though it's been awhile… Don't suppose he's just not telling me because he thinks it will distract me? _he wondered with irritation. _No, if there was any news he would tell me, _he thought, turning the Bat-mobile away from the hospital as he continued the patrol.

_Even if there hasn't been any news, Mom shouldn't have to deal with this alone. But if I wait until after the patrol I won't have to rush out on her… but who knows how long this patrol is going to last,_ Terry argued.

He sighed, "Forget it, I'm going," he said, turning the Bat-mobile around and heading straight for the hospital.

"Going? Going to the hospital? McGinnis…" Bruce started in a disapproving tone.

"It's five minutes there, five minutes back, ten minutes inside tops; I'll park the on the roof and even cloak the Bat-mobile," Terry informed. "It will only take twenty minutes then I'll be back on the patrol," he promised. "I have to check on them."

Bruce sighed, "Matt's room is on the third floor, room 312. Reporters are speculating about you not being there anyway, so I suggest you leave through the main entrance where they can see you."

"Make it look like I've been there the whole time," Terry replied. _I'll just have to change back into the Bat-suit and fly, cloaked, back up to the roof after,_ he reasoned.

"Don't answer any questions, just push your way passed them if you have to. They're already having a field day with the attack. A reporter got footage of you fighting the Jokerz, and since… Batman… wasn't seen at the school or the jail they are taking it as proof that you are Batman."

"Great," Terry replied. _Just what I was trying to avoid by __**not**__ changing into the bat-suit._ he thought, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't the only one fighting them," he pointed out

"No, but you're the only one that was fighting twenty of them at a time. And the only one that was just named as Batman."

Terry sighed, _what was I supposed to do?_ _Just stand there and watch? If I didn't fight them, more people would have gotten hurt!_

_I fight the Jokerz and I make things worse, I fight the Ts and Matt gets hurt. I can't do anything right today, can I? _he wondered, feeling like everything was going wrong no matter what he did to stop it.

As he neared the hospital, he hit the cloak button. He glanced down at the entrance as he drove up to the rooftop, and saw a mob of reporters crowding the front doors, barely leaving room for doctors and paramedics to pass by them. _That's not going to be fun,_ he thought with dread, knowing that it was _not_ going to be easy to get through that crowd once they realized who he was.

_I've dealt with just as many Jokerz and at least reporters won't be trying to kill me,_ he reasoned, as he parked the Bat-mobile. "Matt's room is on the third floor, room 312, right?" Terry asked, wanting to make sure as he pulled off his mask and grabbed his backpack from the back of the Bat-mobile.

"Yes," Bruce answered. "And I suggest you take the stairs, the less people that see you coming; the easier it will be to make them believe you've been there the whole time."

Terry nodded in agreement, _Stairs will take longer though,_ he thought, realizing this was going to take longer then he had originally thought.

* * *

Terry stepped out of the stairwell and into the quiet hall_. Now to figure out which direction Matt's room is in,_ he thought.

He could go left or right, both directions lead him to a slightly busier area of the hospital and neither guaranteed it was the right direction to go in. _Guess I'll try this way,_ he thought for no particular reason, as he turned right and headed down the hall.

As he walked down the long hall, he quickly noticed the silent, and frequent, glances and watchful stares of those who noticed him; he tried to ignore them the best he could as he looked for the room numbers. _385, 384,383…. At least I'm going in the right direction,_ he thought.

The closer he got to Matt's room the less attention he paid to his 'watchers'; he unconsciously sped up as the numbers by the doorways slowly descended to 312. Though he didn't fully realize it, he needed to be here, for himself as much as for them.

As Terry stepped into the doorway, his eyes immediately fell on the hospital bed and Matt's still unconscious form. _Matt being out this long isn't good, is it?_ he wondered, fear for his brother rising up from within him.

"Terry!" his mom said in surprise, catching his attention.

Terry turned to her; she was sitting in the guest chair next to the hospital bed. She looked emotionally drained. He hated seeing her like this, almost as much as he hated seeing Matt like this. _If only I had moved faster,_ he thought, a wave of guilt washing over him as he turned to Matt.

"Any news?" he asked, as he stepped into the room and over to the bed, before turning back to his mom.

She turned to Matt and shook her head, her concern for him clear as day. "They said the test results should be in soon."

Terry nodded, he wasn't sure how long 'soon' would be, but he was willing to wait… if not just so his mom wouldn't have to wait alone.

He grabbed the extra chair by the window and put it next to his mom. As he stared at his little brother, his bruises and swollen black eye were evident now more then ever; he sat down, no longer caring about getting back on patrol with-in twenty minutes.

Unconsciously, he didn't want to hear how his brother was as he flew though Gotham hunting down escapees; he wanted and needed to be here, to hear it first-hand from the doctor… as nothing more then an older brother worried about his little brother.


	10. Chapter 10

Mary stared anxiously at Matt, her little boy, her baby. She hated seeing him like this; it was her nightmare to see either of her boys like this. She turned to Terry. _This is just the beginning, isn't it? _she wondered, realizing with Terry's night job this was probably just the first of many visits to the hospital.

She could feel her eyes starting to water. She couldn't stand the thought of Matt or Terry being here, of either of her babies being hurt. _Why? Why does he have to be Batman? Why couldn't it have been someone else?_ she wondered.

She couldn't stand the thought of going through this again. She hated every moment of it: the waiting, the not knowing, the helplessness. She couldn't do anything to help, no matter how much she wanted to. She would give _anything_ to have Matt safe and sound, running around the house with more energy then any one person should have. She smiled slightly, _I swear he sneaks a pot of coffee when I'm not looking,_ she thought, barely able to keep up with him most of the time.

Her smile faded as her eyes refocused on Matt and his unmoving form. _Where is that doctor? How long does it take to get a few test results back?! _she wondered, turning to the doorway, unable to take this waiting for much longer.

As if on cue, the doctor stepped into the doorway.

"Mrs. McGinnis," he greeted with a warm smile, as he walked over to the bed.

"Doctor," she replied, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Terry turn to him as well.

"Sorry for the wait…" he apologized, glancing at Terry a few times. His eyes widened, "McGinnis…" he mumbled as if realizing something.

"The test results?" Mary reminded, needing the answers they would provide, whether good or bad, she needed to know. She couldn't stand not knowing.

"Yes," he said, turning back to her. "The scans show that he has two cracked ribs, so pain medication will be prescribed and he is going to have to take it easy. Though he took quite a blow to the head, scans show no sign of any brain damage. We have to wait until he awakens to determine if he has a concussion. Either way it would be for the best for him to stay overnight, for observation."

Mary nodded, turning back to Matt, _My poor baby, _she thought.

"How long before he wakes up?" Terry asked.

"There's no way of telling," the doctor answered.

* * *

The doctor had left a little while ago, leaving Terry and his mom alone with Matt. C_racked ribs are never fun, but at least he's ok,_ Terry thought with relief, as he looked at his little brother. _But why won't he wake up?_ he wondered, a wave of concern washing over him. _No, he's fine. The doctors would have found something if anything was wrong. Other then the cracked ribs, they didn't find anything. He is fine,_ he reminded himself.

Terry looked down at his watch and winced, it had been nearly two hours since he first entered the hospital. _Wayne is __**not**__ going to be happy…_ _I need to get back out there, _he thought, realizing that by staying at the hospital, he had given the escapees two extra hours to disappear underground to blend into the crowd of unsuspecting citizens.

Terry sighed, he still felt guilty leaving his mom and Matt, but at least he knew Matt was ok.

Terry turned to his mom, "I have to go."

"What? Why?" she asked with alarm.

"I'm needed," he simply replied, standing up.

"You're needed here. Matt could wake up any minute," she added, obviously trying to get him to stay.

"Or he might be out for a couple of more hours…" Terry pointed out. "I need to get back out there… before they disappear forever. If it's not too late already," he commented more to himself then to his mom.

"Terry…" she pleaded, her concern clearly showing through her eyes.

"I'll be fine," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Terry… if you get hurt... I… _please_ stay."

_Mom, I don't want to go. I want to stay. But I can't. I can't just sit here knowing these criminals are on the loose. It's going to be almost impossible to find them as it is… and if something happens that I could have stopped… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself,_ Terry thought. "I'll be careful," he finally replied, as he started to walk towards the doorway.

"Terry," his mom protested.

"Mm… Mom?" Matt's mumbled voice stopped Terry dead in his tracks.

Terry quickly turned to face him. Seeing Matt finally awake was more of a relief then he could have imagined.

"Matt!" their mom said in joyful surprise.

Matt cringed, "Not so loud," he said. "Where… where am I? What's… um…"

"We're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" their mom asked.

"Umm… Ts… They where… at the school," Matt answered.

_He looks a little… off… like he's having trouble concentrating,_ Terry realized, fear rising up within him. _I should get the doctor,_ he reasoned.

"Terry," their mom started, as he was about to turn and head out of the room. "I'm going to get the doctor, stay with Matt," she informed, as she got up and quickly walked past him before heading straight into the hall.

_O…k, guess that works too,_ he thought, walking over to the hospital bed. "You ok, Squirt?" he asked, sitting down on the bed next to Matt; all his thoughts of getting back on patrol completely gone from him mind.

"Head hurts… chest… hurts… hurts to breathe… lights… not helping," Matt slowly answered.

Terry gave him a sympathetic smile, "Yeah; breathing won't be fun for a while... and I suggest you don't try to move too much either," he advised.

Matt nodded in agreement, before he winced.

Terry turned to the doorway, looking for their mom. He quickly spotted her and the doctor on their way back to the room. He stood up as they entered and stepped away from the bed, to allow the doctor room to get to Matt.


	11. Chapter 11

Terry maneuvered his way through the hospital, making sure to use the elevator and the more populated halls. He had to make sure he was seen in order to get them to believe that he had been here a lot longer then he really had.

Though he still didn't like leaving his mom and Matt, he felt better knowing Matt was ok. He didn't envy his little brother; having two cracked ribs and a concussion was not going to be fun, but at least he was ok.

Terry stopped when the glass double door entrance and mob of reporters on the other side came into view. Terry sighed, though the few police officers that were stationed outside were managing to keep them out of the hospital, it was obviously not going to be easy to get past them.

"_Don't answer any questions, just push your way past them if you have to,"_ Wayne's instructions rang through Terry's mind. _Ok… here goes nothing,_ he thought, as he walked over to the doors.

He had never had to deal with reporters before… at least not on this scale, maybe one or two here and there, but never mobs at a time… well other then this morning and that didn't really work out the way he wanted it to.

Terry pushed open one of the doors and stepped though. Within seconds one of them recognized him and that was all it took.

"Terry McGinnis, can I ask you a few questions?" she asked.

The entire mob around him quickly turned to him. Before he even got two feet out the door, they had surrounded him and camera lights had flashed in his eyes so many times it nearly blinded him.

Terry blinked trying to get the bright glowing lights, blocking his vision, to go away, but it did little to help.

"Terry McGinnis, is your bother here because of the attack?" a different reporter asked.

"Is he in serious condition?" another reporter quickly added.

"Was the attack your fault? Were the Jokerz and the Ts there for you?"

"What are you going to do now that your identity as Batman is known?"

"Do you have any plans for catching the escaped prisoners?"

All of the reporters shot question after question at him, not even giving him any time to answer one question before another reporter would ask something else. "No comment," Terry said, as he tried to maneuver his way out of the crowd, though they left him little room to do so.

"Why did you become Batman?"

"Do you have any idea who released the recording?"

"How many more innocent people have to get hurt for you to stop your dangerous vigilante crusade?"

_Dangerous vigilante crusade? I'm trying to help!_ he thought with annoyance. "No comment," he repeated with a hint of annoyance, as he squeezed in-between and around reporters and cameramen.

"People are saying the jailbreak is your fault; do you have anything to say about that?"

"What?" Terry couldn't help but blurt out as he turned to the reporter who had spoken. _My fault? Why would they think__** I**__ had anything to do with it?_ he wondered in disbelief, as silence fell around him.

The reporters stared expectantly at Terry as they held their microphones in his direction.

_You need to keep moving,_ he reminded himself. He briefly glanced at the camera aimed directly at him, before turning back to the reporter. "No comment," he finally replied, as he tried to make his way out of the mob again.

The barrage of questions continued, as the reporters moved with him, making it nearly impossible to break free of them.

After walking the agonizing length of the entire block, he finally managed to ditch the last reporter. _Finally, I thought he'd never leave,_ Terry thought, as he ducked down a dark alley. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was following, before he crouched down next to the dumpster.

He slid his backpack off his shoulder, before peering around the corner of the dumpster, to once again make sure no one was nearby. I_ hate doing this here, especially since I'm trying to prove I'm not Batman. The last thing I need right now is for someone else to catch me in the Bat-suit, _he complained, as he opened his backpack.

Terry slide off his jacket revealing the long black sleeves of the Bat-suit underneath his clothes. _Well, it would take an hour to walk home from here, just to have to fly back to get the Bat-mobile. That's an hour I don't have. The escapees have had enough time to disappear, I don't need to give them another hour on top of it,_ he thought stuffing his jacket into his backpack.

It wasn't long before he was out of his street clothes and back in the Bat-suit. "Boss?" Terry said, tapping the earpiece in his cowl, as he flew, cloaked, back to the hospital. "Sorry, that took a little longer then I thought it would have," he added, hoping Bruce wasn't going to blow up at him for being over two and a half hours late.

"…Actually, I wasn't expecting you for another hour," Bruce replied.

"What? But I said…"

"Given the injuries from the attacks at both the school and the prison that the hospital is dealing with, I'm surprised it didn't take longer," Bruce explained.

Terry nodded then frowned slightly. "You knew that before I went in, didn't you?" he asked knowingly. _And you let me go anyway, knowing that I wouldn't be back on patrol for at least two to three hours._

"Most of the escapees have been caught or have gone underground; the police can handle the rest. You should come back; we need to start focusing on the real threat," Bruce said, continuing on without answering Terry's question.

_Inque, Shriek, Spellbinder, and Mad Stan,_ Terry thought, knowing exactly who Bruce was referring to. "On my way," he replied, more then ready to haul their butts back to jail.


	12. Chapter 12

Bruce typed in the last bit of a code into the Bat-computer; finishing up a program, that would alert him if Inque, Spellbinder, Shriek, Mad Stan, or any of the other escaped high profile mad men were spotted.

He knew they all would be looking for new hideouts, considering their old ones had either been destroyed or discovered. _They will most likely not return, most likely, but not definitely. I will have to have Terry check them out, even if they're not there; there might be a clue that will lead us to where they are now_, he reasoned.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ace's head pop up, obviously hearing something. A second later, he heard the familiar rush of wind signifying that an old friend had come to visit.

"Clark," Bruce said knowingly, without needing to turn around to check.

"Sometimes, I'd swear you're the one with super hearing," Clark replied, amusement clear in his voice.

"Is there something you wanted?" Bruce asked, wanting him to get to the point, so he could get back to work.

"I saw the news," Clark started. "With everything going on, I thought you might need a hand," he explained as he stepped next to Bruce.

"We have it covered," Bruce answered, turning to him. This was his city, his responsibility, no one else's.

"I'm sure you do, but a little help never hurt," Clark reminded.

Bruce turned back to the computer. He knew Terry could handle anything this city threw at him... even this. Terry had proved himself again and again, he had risked his life and saved the city countless times. And this was how the city repaid him; by not only ruining his life, but the lives of the people he cared about as well.

Terry had become just as much of a son to him as Dick and Tim had… he wished he could take his place in this mess. But telling the world that he was the original Batman, would do little to help the situation and most definitely wouldn't prove that Terry wasn't Batman. So for now, all he could do was try to help Terry the best he could. And hope that there was a way to fix this, so Terry wouldn't be stuck with the ramifications of a decision made so long ago.

Bruce knew Clark was right, though he hated admitting it. They could use the help, not because Terry couldn't handle it, but because he shouldn't have to deal with this alone.

Just then he heard the Bat-mobile pull in at Terry's usual high speed_. He is lucky I keep recalibrating those brakes,_ he thought, shaking his head slightly; watching as Terry once again came to an abrupt stop as he parked the Bat-mobile.

"So, any leads on where I should start looking for them?" Terry started, as he jumped out of the Bat-mobile. "Or should I do a few sweeps of the abandon- Superman!" he said in surprise, obviously just now noticing him.

"Terry," Clark replied, with a friendly smile.

"What are you doing here?" Terry asked. "Something going on with the League?"

Clark shook his head, "No, the League is fine. I just thought, with everything that's going on, I could lend a hand," he explained, stepping towards Terry. "Whatever you need, I'm here to help."

* * *

Inque looked at the rundown abandoned warehouse in front of her then back to the note in her hand. _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ she thought, shaking her head.

The note had been mysteriously left in her containment cell at the time of the jailbreak. It had specified that it would be worth her while to come and meet them here if she was at all grateful for the release. _Whoever is behind this, went to a lot of trouble to get me here… This better be worth it,_ she thought, as she pushed open the door and stepped in.

The large musty room was poorly lit, what little light there was, was coming from the scattered holes in the ceiling.

"You might as well show yourself! I know you're in here!" a male voice angrily demanded.

Inque quickly transformed into her ink form, before slithering up a nearby wooden support beam to get a better view of the area. The dark shadows made it difficult to make out who or where they were.

"Show yourself!" he again demanded.

As he stepped through a patch of light, Inque immediately recognized him. _Shriek,_ she thought with surprise. _He arranged the Jailbreak?_

"Oh pipe down; you would think if you wanted to see, you would have picked a place with better lighting," a woman replied with annoyance.

"Me? I didn't pick the place, you did!" Shriek replied.

"What? Aren't you the person who left the note?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, that would have been quite a trick considering I was still in my cell at the time."

"Well if you didn't, then who did?" the woman demanded.

_Good question,_ Inque thought.

"So… anyone know just why we are here?" someone else asked.

"Yeah, I've got better things to do then wait in some warehouse," another person commented with annoyance.

"Yeah," came a chorus of responses out of the shadows.

_Defiantly __**not**__ the one on one meeting I had thought,_ Inque realized, looking around the dark room. She could make out multiple dark forms and silhouettes, but she got the feeling that none of them were the person who had summoned them here.

"I know you all have places you would rather be, so I will be as blunt as possible," a calm yet authoritative male voice started. Inque followed the voice to a lone silhouette standing on the rafters above. "I am the one that arranged the jailbreak and arranged this meeting."

"Why?"

"Who are you?"

"Why are we here?"

"What do you want?

"I have a proposition for you… One that I believe you will all want to hear," his voice clearly heard over the bombardment of questions around her.

"And what exactly are you proposing? I'm not some charity organization; I expect to be paid and handsomely at that," Inque called out, as she let go of the support beam and landed on the wooden floor.

"Don't worry; you will all be paid for your part," the shadowed figure assured.

"I am not some gun for hire! If you expect…" Shriek objected.

"Trust me; this time you will want to make an exception," he paused. "If we work together, not only will this entire city crumble in our wake, but Batman will be ours to do with as we please."


	13. Chapter 13

Terry turned the Bat-mobile around a corner as he approached one of Spellbinder's old hideouts. He had already checked out three of Inque's and all of Mad Stan's bomb-laden booby-trapped hideouts. Superman investigated Shriek's old hideouts, checked for Inque at her daughter's, and was now heading to the abandoned district to look for any signs of them there.

With Superman's help the search was cut down by hours, but with no sign of any of escapees and midnight fast approaching, it was looking like this was going to be an unproductive evening.

Terry was grateful for Superman's help, though he wasn't sure if Wayne's acceptance of the help was because he didn't think he could handle it or because he just wanted to get things done faster.

"Not much on my end, just a few Jokerz" Superman informed through the com-link Wayne had given him.

_Jokerz,_ Terry thought, shaking his head. They were pretty much the only thing either of them had run into all evening. He had thought for sure Mad Stan would have been at one of his trap-infested hideouts, but every one of them turned out to be a dead end.

"Just a few more blocks then I can help check out some of Spellbinder's known hideouts."

Terry nodded, "Looks dead here; this one shouldn't take long to check," he said, as he parked the Bat-mobile on the roof. It looked just as quiet as all the others.

"Stay sharp; looks can be deceiving," Bruce reminded in a warning tone.

"I know," Terry replied, as he got out of the Bat-mobile. _Especially when it comes to Spellbinder, _he thought as he approached the rooftop access.

_Already open,_ he thought, noticing that the door was slightly ajar_. Not sure if that's a good or a bad sign,_ he added, as he pushed the door open and started down the dark shadowed stairwell. _Probably more Jokerz; if Spellbinder was here, you'd think he would close the door to try and keep people, like the Jokerz, out,_ he reasoned, as he switched to night vision.

"So… Batman, how is your family handling all this? Did they already know? Or…?" Superman asked.

"They didn't… and better then I expected them to," Terry answered, as he reached the door to the top floor and opened it. As he stepped in he looked around, he didn't see anyone so he headed further into the room.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like to keep it from them and not be able to talk to them," Superman commented.

"You mean your family knew?... from the beginning?" Terry asked with surprise. _I can't imagine __**not**__ having to hide it and I can't imagine Mom just letting me be Batman, especially so soon after Dad's death._

"Yes," Superman replied, in an 'of course they did' tone.

"Batman…" a male voice taunted form somewhere in the room.

Terry stopped, as he looked around, searching the room for whoever have just spoken. "Hang on, someone's here."

"Switching to vid-link," Bruce informed.

The large room was mostly empty, except for a few oversized boxes, though the room had lots of thick wooden support beams that someone could hide behind_. Just the type of room you want to fight Spellbinder in,_ he thought with annoyance, as he slowly walked further into the room. _Though you don't know for sure that it is Spellbinder._

"Over here Bats," the voice taunted, from somewhere ahead and to Terry's left.

He ejected a bola batarang into his hand as he continued towards the voice. "You know hiding isn't very productive, if you announce your presence…" Terry pointed out.

"Who's hiding?" the voice was unsettlingly close and directly behind him.

Terry instinctively spun around to face them. He only got a glimpse of the familiar red and black swirl suit, before a blinding white light flashed in his eyes.

_I hate it when he sneaks up on me! How did he get behind me so quickly?_ Terry wondered, as he blinked a few times to clear his vision.

His vision didn't take long to clear and he found himself, once again, in an empty room. Terry shook his head, _I hate it when he makes himself invisible_, he complained, looking around even though he knew he wasn't going to see him. "I thought you said you weren't hiding?

"I'm a bad guy, bad guy's lie… you should know this by now," Spellbinder replied.

"Terry, duck _**now!**_" Bruce urgently instructed.

Terry immediately ducked, before he jumped back a foot and straightened up. He quickly threw the bola batarang that was already in his hand in Spellbinder's direction. He rolled his eyes as it went clear across the room and wrapped around one of the support beams. "Any tips?" he asked hopefully, as he looked around. It was unnerving not being able to trust your own eyes.

"Having trouble with your aim?" Spellbinder commented, amusement clear in his voice.

"Need a hand over there?" Superman asked.

"Right punch… now," Bruce instructed.

Terry swung his right fist at the air in front of him and smiled slightly when he hit something that felt a lot like a jawbone. Now having an idea where Spellbinder was, Terry quickly swung at him again.

"Dodge left, now!" Bruce ordered.

As he dodged he felt something graze his right shoulder. Terry turned, quickly glancing around, trying to adjust to where Spellbinder might have moved to. Suddenly and unexpectedly he felt someone pound down on his back, he gritted his teeth, barely able to withhold a cry of pain.

"On my way," Superman said as Terry spun around.

"Duck, now!" Bruce instructed.

Terry ducked, though not in time; Spellbinder's punch hit him square on the jaw.

"No fun fighting someone you can't see, is it?" Spellbinder asked in an amused tone.

"Can't see…" Terry repeated, something occurring to him. "I don't know, you tell me," he replied, as he hit the camouflage button on the suit.

"What?! You can't!... How did you!?" Spellbinder asked, obviously not expecting or hearing about the bat-suit's cloak.

"He's three feet in front of you and one foot to your left. Careful when you approach, he's swinging blindly at the air in front of him," Bruce warned.

"Where are you?! No one said anything about you being able to disappear!" Spellbinder complained.

"Lose something?" Superman asked, right after zipping in and stopped, hovering, a few feet away from Terry.

"Gah! _**Superman!**_…" Spellbinder started, followed by a thud.

A second later Spellbinder 'appeared' lying unconscious on the wooden floor.

Terry turned to Superman then back to Spellbinder.

"I didn't touch him," Superman said.

"Since when does Spellbinder _faint_?" Terry wondered aloud, as he walked over to them. He knelt down next to Spellbinder and pulled off the mask. Terry's eyes' widened in surprise, as an unfamiliar blonde haired man was revealed. "Who is this guy? And how does he have Spellbinder's tech?"

* * *

**AN:**

**I am taking a break from this story to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and will be continuing this story in December, so please remember to check back then for updates, thank you. :)**

**P.S. In the meantime, any comments or suggestions are always welcome and appreciated. **


	14. Chapter 14

Barbara rubbed the temples of her forehead, it had been a long day. Ordinarily she would have been home with Sam hours ago, but with the jailbreak her forces were stretched thin. And if her men had to work late, then she worked late right along with them.

She leaned back in her chair. Her men had managed to re-catch at least half of the escaped prisoners and with McGinnis's help it gone a lot faster than it would have. _I wish we didn't have to rely on that kid's help. We are the police, we are supposed to protect this city, not a seventeen-year-old boy..._ she sighed._ Though that one boy is worth twenty of my men._ She shook her head. _Maybe Bruce should be the one training the police force,_ she thought with an amused smile.

Her smile faded. _All of the close calls we had so many years ago, all of the times our identities were almost revealed... I wonder how McGinnis is handling it. It must be a relief for his family to finally know, I know I came so close to telling Dad so many times... though I think a part of him always knew, _she thought a small smile briefly returning to her lips. _It's got to be a scary thought that all of Gotham city's criminals also know. Even if Bruce finds a way to persuade Gotham__ t__hat McGinnis isn't Batman, there will always be those that believe he is... McGinnis's life will never be the same. _

She smiled slightly, hearing footsteps near the open window. "Batman," she greeted. It always felt weird calling him that, but it was his name now.

"Comish," McGinnis replied, as she turned to face him

"Superman!" she said with surprise, spotting him hovering outside the open window.

"Barbara," Superman greeted with his usual friendly smile, as he stepped though the open window. "It's good to see you again."

Barbara nodded, "You too," she paused, "What brings you to Gotham?"

"Just thought I'd lend a hand," he answered, briefly glancing over at McGinnis.

She nodded. "And what brings you two here?"

"We caught a spellbinder impersonator at one of Spellbinder's old hideouts and thought we'd save you a trip and drop him off... and see if you knew anything," Superman answered.

Barbara raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Impersonator?" she repeated, _Great, just what we need on top of everything else, copycats._

"Yep, same tech and all," McGinnis added. "He's downstairs."

She nodded. _Great. Where'd he get the tech? Spellbinder have an accomplice now? or just a crazed fan? _she wondered.

"Any news on the real one?" McGinnis asked.

She shook her head, "No. He's disappeared along with Gotham's other more colorful criminals," she answered, with a hint of annoyance. Even with all of the prisoners that they recaptured, somehow all of the high profile ones had slipped through their fingers.

McGinnis nodded.

"We'll let you know if we find out anything about Spellbinder or the others," Superman said.

Barbara nodded, t_hough knowing Bruce, that won't be until after they are already knocked out, tied up, and ready to be picked up,_ she thought, as they turned to leave.

"Batman," she said. After everything he had done for the city, she needed to warn him about some of the comments and feelings circulating the station.

McGinnis stopped and turned back to her.

"Keep your head down. Some of the force is just as eager to bring you in as they are to bring in Spellbinder and the others. While I appreciate all you have done to help this city, you are still a vigilant... and I am the Commissioner, I can't help you if you are caught," she warned.

McGinnis nodded then smirked, "Couldn't catch me if you tried."

_I wouldn't be so sure of that, _she thought, suppressing a smirk. _My men didn't know who you were before and for fear of hurting Bruce and hope that he was right about you, I didn't tell them. But things are different now and I can only hope I don't have to put that to the test. _

* * *

"So, any news on who that Spellbinder imposter was?" Terry asked, as he hopped out of the bat-mobile and headed toward the bat-computer with Superman close behind.

"His name is Eric Fisher, pretty much your average thug and has no connection to Ira Billings," Bruce informed, "Spellbinder," he clarified, briefly turning to Superman.

"Maybe they were cellmates or met in prison?" Superman suggested.

Bruce shook his head, "I already looked into that; they've never been in same prison at the same time," he answered.

"Then how did this Fisher guy get his hands on Spellbinder's tech?" Terry asked.

Bruce went silent, obviously thinking, as he stared at Fisher's and Spellbinder's side-by-side profiles that were up on the bat-computer's screen

Terry turned to the profiles as well. Ira Billings had been a psychiatrist... before he became Spellbinder there was little to indicate his love of money and jealousy of his patients wealth. According to Eric Fisher's profile he had been in and out of prison his entire life, though he had never advanced beyond being a common thug.

_How did he get Spellbinder's tech?... and why would he dress up as Spellbinder and wait for me at one of Spellbinder's old hideouts?_ Terry wondered. _The way he had been talking it sounded like he had been told to wait there for me. Like someone wanted us to fight... but why? Was it some distraction? or...?_ Terry wondered, as he tried to figure it out._ And what connects him to Spellbinder? If he's never even met Spellbinder then how... there's got to be a middleman, _he realized._ Someone that connects the two. _"There's got to be someone that connects them. Someone that knew Spellbinder and this Fisher guy. Someone that told him to wait for me."

Bruce nodded, "except, they have no known associates in common... It is going to take some time to find out who connects them; I suggest you get some rest while you can, it's going to be a long day tomorrow," he warned, as he started typing something into the computer.

* * *

"By now they will have had a run-in with my Spellbinder imposter. They should be chasing their tails trying to find a connection between him and the real one... a connection that doesn't exist. Which should give us until about noon tomorrow for them to figure that out," the shadowed figure informed. "That's when I need you, Inque. I'll need you to pay someone a visit..."


	15. Chapter 15

Terry awoke early the next morning; he had crashed at Wayne's because his mom said she would be spending the night at the hospital with Matt. It wasn't the first time he crashed here after a long night, though usually he had to be up and out the door before the crack of dawn in order to make it looked like he spent the night at home.

This particular guest room had, sort of, become his; it was where he kept a few spare clothes in case he spent the night or the clothes he had been wearing got torn in a fight.

Terry got up and got changed, before heading down to the bat-cave, where he was sure to find Bruce.

And, sure enough, as Terry descended the stairs and the bat-computer came into view, he quickly spotted Bruce typing away at the computer. _Does he ever sleep?_ he wondered, as he approached the computer.

"Any news?" Terry asked, stopping next to Bruce.

Bruce shook his head, "No," he answered. "There are no connections that I can find between Ira Billings and Erick Fisher. Whatever connection they may have isn't going to be found by a computer."

_Hopefully Fisher to talk then,_ Terry thought.

"I'm going to need you to check out Mr. Fisher's apartment for any clues on how he got the technology or how he knows Mr. Billings," Bruce informed.

Terry nodded, "On it," he replied as he turned to leave.

"No, I can handle that," Superman stated from behind them, "You need to get to school," he reminded.

"But," Terry started to object. He had to get to the bottom of the Spellbinder mystery and find out who released the recording. He could miss one day of school. Besides he didn't feel like dealing with everyone staring at him and whispering behind his back and studying everything he did or didn't do.

"You have to keep up appearances. If you miss school now and Batman is seen around town during the _day_ is only going to make things worse. Though you being seen at school and Batman not being seen is a lot less suspicious," Supermen pointed out.

"He's right," Bruce agreed. "Making people think you're not Batman, is the highest priority. You have to keep up appearances."

"But... we have to find out what Spellbinder and his imposter are up to before they make their next move; we also have to find the other escapees and find out who released the recording," Terry reminded.

"Yes," Bruce nodded, "but we can handle it. For now, you need to get to school. I'll let you know if we find out anything."

He hated sitting on the sidelines while someone else did _his_ job. He would much rather do something more productive then sit in class not really paying attention to the teacher all day... but if it helped make his identity safe again... his family and friends safe again, then it was worth it.

* * *

As Terry approached the school's front entrance, he noticed, that once again, there was mob of reporters at the top of the stairs, talking to some of the other students. Terry stopped and sighed knowing they were most likely waiting for him. _Great. I could just use the side entrance and avoid them entirely... no,_ he reminded himself. _The whole reason I'm here is to be seen and act like I have nothing to hide and sneaking in won't help that one bit,_ he thought, as he reluctantly stepped toward the mob.

"Terry McGinnis! Can I ask you a few questions?" a female reporter asked, as she rushed over to him, quickly followed by a cameraman.

A wave of nervousness washed over him. _Just smile,_ he told himself, staring straight at the camera. He forced himself to smile as the reporter and cameraman stopped a foot away from him._ Act like you have nothing to hide,_ he reminded himself, as the other reporters headed toward him as well.

"You're welcome to ask, but since I'm not Batman, I don't think I'm going to have the answers you're looking for," he replied, as he uncomfortably shifted his backpack before continuing up the stairs, forcing them all to follow him if they wanted to ask anything.

"You keep saying you're not Batman, but we've all seen the evidence saying you are, do you have anyway of proving that you aren't?" she asked.

Terry shrugged, "As I said before, it was just a Halloween costume," he replied, eying the doors that were now only a few feet away.

"So you have no way of proving it?" she asked.

"It..." Terry started, trying to think of _something_ to say. _I hate reporters,_ he complained. "Batman was around long before I was even born... how could_ I_ be Batman?" he asked, remembering that Dana had pointed out the age thing a while back. "Now, I've got to get to class," he said, as he finally reached the doors.

"Just one more question?!" she asked hopefully, as the other reporters around them shot out questions of their own.

Terry placed a hand on the cool metal door in front of him and sighed; all he had to do was push open the door, take a few steps in, and he would be free from the reporters and all of their prying questions, _I have to act like I have nothing to hide, _he reminded himself, before turning back to her.

"How is your younger brother, Matt, doing?" she asked.

"He's... doing better. With some rest, the doctors say he should be fine," Terry answered, both surprised and relieved that the question wasn't about him. He pushed open the door and stepped in, as the other reporters all tried to get 'one more' question in before he disappeared into the school. As the door swung closed behind him it muffled out their never ending barrage of questions.

The hall around him was eerily empty compared to yesterday. Though the lockers aligning the walls were covered in scratches, dents, and spray paint, they weren't the only thing showing signs of yesterday's attack; at least half of the students that were here had multiple cuts, scraps, and bruises.

Terry turned away from them. _The Jokerz and Ts wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for me... me and that recording, _he thought, wishing that no one had gotten hurt, that he could've done more to protect them.

"This is your fault!" a female student said angrily, as she stormed over to Terry. "The Ts and Jokerz were here for you! No one here would have gotten hurt if it wasn't for you! This city doesn't need your 'heroics'; you should turn yourself in before you get us all killed!"

"If it wasn't for him, we probably would have been!" a boy nearby defended. Terry quickly recognized him as one of the boys that helped him fight off the Jokerz, the one that he had told to tell the other students about the safe exit. "If it wasn't for him half of us wouldn't have even gotten out of the school!"

"If it wasn't for him they wouldn't have been here in the first place!" she argued.

"Hey! It's not like he told them to come here! All he did was try and help!"

"Help?! They were here for him!"

"I'm sorry anyone got hurt. I did everything I could to stop them," Terry said, as he spotted Dana as she entered the hall from around the corner. "I did everything I could," he repeated more to himself then to her, as he continued down the hall toward Dana.

He was feeling guilty enough as it was, he didn't need her reminding him that they were here for him... that everyone got hurt because of him... including his own brother. Sure the attack was a distraction for the jail-break, but why else would they pick this school to attack if not to go after him?

"Everything you could?! Practically half the school is in the hospital because of you!" the girl yelled out after him.

"Don't listen to her," Dana said, as she looped her arm though his. "She just needs someone to blame... no matter how false her accusations are. The Jokerz and Ts made the decision to come here at that time. They could have tried to go after you before or after school, _they_ chose to attack then. And just look at the place, if they were just after you, would they bother making a mess of the place?"

Terry gave her a kiss on the forehead. Though he knew all of it had to do with the attack being a distraction; somehow she always managed to make him feel just a little bit better, just by being there for him.

"Well, I guess that's one reason why making us see a counselor is a good thing, there's definitely someone who needs to vent," Dana commented.

"Counselor?" Terry repeated.

"Oh, I guess you haven't heard yet. They're bringing in a counselor that we all _have_ to see... something to do with helping us deal with our emotions from the attack," Dana answered.

_Great... well at least it's not the first time I've had to talk to one of them. Just hope this one doesn't turn out to be a psychotic criminal... or related to one,_ he thought, knowing that the last counselor the school had was Ira Billings. And the only other psychiatrist he went to, though undercover at the time, was Dr. Stanton, though he was basically a good guy, his son turned out to be Payback. "We all _have_ to go?" he asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

Dana nodded, "Yep."

Terry sighed, "Great." _I have more important things to do then sit in a room and talk about things I don't want to talk about to someone I don't want to talk about them to._


End file.
